Today's News: Our Take - American Idol: Highlights from Hollywood Day 1

It was boys' night on American Idol Wednesday, with the show highlighting the first days of the guys' Hollywood round, encompassing solo and group performances. And the first night of Hollywood Week was a rough one, to say the least.With ...

By TV Guide

Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

By TV Guide

Posted Feb. 7, 2013 at 9:50 AM

By TV Guide
Posted Feb. 7, 2013 at 9:50 AM

It was boys' night on American Idol Wednesday, with the show highlighting the first days of the guys' Hollywood round, encompassing solo and group performances. And the first night of Hollywood Week was a rough one, to say the least.

With more than 250 contestants from the original auditions sent to California (the girls will be featured next week), the show breezed through the first solo rounds and chose to focus on the group competitions. For the first time, the hopefuls were placed into groups rather than being allowed to choose their own - and some of the partnerships were less than amicable at times. Not to mention, by the end of the evening, it looked like the judges - Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Randy Jackson and Keith Urban - were ready to award points simply if the groups were able to remember the actual words.

In general, the performances ranged from mediocre to downright tragic, and only a couple of the groups impressed the judges enough to have all their members sent on. Here are the two that stood out to us.

The Mathheads: Featuring two of our favorites, Matheus Fernandes and Gabe Brown, the math heads gave a fun, well-orchestrated performance of Queen's "Somebody to Love" that earned all four a pass into the next round of solo competitions. Plus, they all seemed to work together during the preparations. Maybe they should band together if they don't advance individually!

Super 55: The foursome had a hard time settling on a song that contestant Lazaro Arbos was familiar with, since he grew up outside of America. They eventually decided to perform The Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice," and had trouble syncing up on both the vocals and the melody. The judges' feedback reflected as much, with only two of the members (including Lazaro) sent on.